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MALACAÑAN PALACE
MANILA

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES

[ Proclamation No. 925, November 20, 1996 ]

DECLARING THE PERIOD FROM DECEMBER 2 TO 8 OF EVERY YEAR AS NATIONAL PROTECTION OF THE WATERS WEEK

WHEREAS, while adequate water is a basic need for human as well as for economic development, water sources in the Philippines continue to be polluted and exhausted, water tables are declining and watersheds are being destroyed;

WHEREAS, rapid population growth, increased water demand for basic human needs and industrial activities have taken their toll on the marine environment;

WHEREAS, rivers, bays and inland lakes in the Philippines have become polluted due to irresponsible land-based activities such as improper waste disposal, industrial discharges, spillage of toxic chemicals and inadequate sewage;

WHEREAS, the gravity of the water problem became more apparent when massive fish kill in the Manila Bay occurred more than twice this year;

WHEREAS, in order to arrest further degradation of the coastal and marine environment, a collective effort is vital to instill awareness among the Filipino people of the need to preserve and protect the marine environment;

WHEREAS, an observance of a national protection of the waters week on December 2 to 8 shall provide the base of consciousness-raising on coastal and marine environmental degradation complemented by an Action Agenda to confront the water crisis in our country;

WHEREAS, this one week celebration shall coincide with the 1996 meeting of the Advisory Committee on the Protection of the Seas (ACOPS) for the formulation of a Regional Programme for South East Asia to be attended by finance and environment ministers from the region which shall formulate a Regional Programme of Action to be sent to the United Nations Environment Programmes Governing Board for inclusion in the discussion of the UN Special Assembly;

WHEREAS, the ACOPS, considered as one of the worlds first environmental non-government organization, originally concentrated on encouraging international agreements to reduce marine oil pollution as well as the other aspects of degradation of the coastal and marine environment;

WHEREAS, a one-week observance of national protection of waters will be parallel to this collective effort of the region to arrive at a regional programme that will contribute to the maintenance and restoration of the productive capacity and biodiversity of the marine environment, ensuring the protection of human health and promoting the conservation and sustainable use of the marine living resources;

WHEREAS, the Philippine World Clean-up participation which is primarily focused on the revival of our dying water bodies, coordinated through a GO-NGO partnership led by DENR and the Earthsavers, will be underscored with a sustained pursuit of an international commitment to operationalize the Washington Programme of Action to protect the seas;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FIDEL V. RAMOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby declare the period from December 2 to 8 of every year as National Protection of the Waters Week.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed.1aшphi1

DONE in the City of Manila, this 20th day of November in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Ninety-Six.

(Sgd.) FIDEL V. RAMOS

By the President:

(Sgd.) RUBEN D. TORRES
Executive Secretary

The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation

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